In the United States, one in every four women require medical attention for breast symptomatology, while much rarer, males also encounter breast disorders. Such disorders include galactorrhea, gynecomastia, hypertrophy, polythelia, mastodynia/mastalgia, hyperprolactinemia, and generally non-fibrocystic, non-cancerous mastopathias.
Breast pain is common and estimated to be present in 50% of women. Normally the etiology is unclear. The discomfort generally is classified as (1) cyclic mastalgia or mastodynia occurring immediately prior to the menses; (2) changes in the breast such as duct ectasia and sclerosing adenosis, or (3) referred pain such as costochondritis.
Gynecomastia is enlargement of the glandular breast tissue in male humans (the female counterpart is hypertrophy). This enlargement is localized to the aureoles and can be unilateral or more commonly bilateral. The condition is usually benign in nature; however it can be the source of severe psychological disturbance to the patient. Gynecomastia is most commonly found in males at the time of puberty, but can occur at any age. Gynecomastia can have many underlying causes, e.g., Klinefelter's syndrome (XXY chromosomal abnormality), liver disorders, estrogen therapy for prostatic carcinoma, tumors of various endocrine organs, and certain drugs (digitalis and Dilantin). The common relationship between all these causes and the resulting gynecomastia is the production of abnormal amounts of estrogens. Currently, treatment of this disease is limited to three therapies: 1) Determination and treatment of the underlying cause. 2) Surgical removal of the breast tissue. 3) Treatment with diethylstilbestrol and radiation. Determination and treatment of the underlying cause of gynecomastia is not always possible. Surgery and treatment with diethylstilbestrol and radiation is not always successful and entails great expense and risk. Clearly, a more effective and safer therapy would be useful.
Galactorrhea is the production of breast milk in the male or female when not immediately associated with pregnancy. The highly inappropriate and rare response in the male breast is accompanied by severe psychological discomfort to the male patient. It is thought to be caused by an overproduction of estrogen and prolactin excess. Surgical treatment is usually the therapy of choice if the underlying cause can not be determined or treated. A safer and less costly therapy would be useful.